Currently, joint diseases are a health problem that concerns the health authorities in charge of this industry because of the damage they produce, as well as because of the high percentage of population that suffers from them and the costs that the treatment of the affected patients creates for the health systems.
Joint diseases comprise around 100 different types in their classification, of which rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia and gouty arthritis are the most frequent. The main symptoms that accompany these diseases are joint pain, inflammation, stiffness and progressive reduction in the functional capacity of the affected joints. Some types of arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythematosis, cause systemic damage in addition to the foregoing.
According to the statistical data of the World Health Organization (WHO), it is calculated that approximately 355 million people (6% of the world population) suffer from joint ailments. Particularly in the United States of America, 1 in every 6 individuals suffers from some joint disease, which means that there are 43 million people affected, holding first places among the existing pathologies in that country. Unfortunately, this figure is increasing more and more, and consequently, by the year 2020 it is expected that around 60 million people will be affected by some type of joint disease (1 in every 5 individuals).
In the United States of America joint diseases are also the main cause of disabilities in adults; these diseases limit the daily activities of more than 7 million persons, and by the year 2020 it is expected that there will be 12 million persons whose daily activities will be affected due to arthritic diseases.
Additionally, arthritis is related not only to disabilities that affect the individual, but this disease is also connected with a series of effects for the relatives and the health systems because, for example, in the United States of America 44 million doctors visits are due to problems related to arthritis, of whom 750,000 people require hospitalization. The estimated cost of this care is around 15 billion dollars and the total cost, including labor disabilities and rehabilitation costs, is 60 billion dollars.
Along with the economic cost, another cost must be mentioned, which is as or more important than the first one, and it is the emotional or psychological cost that joint disease represents to a person who has to put up continuously with the symptoms associated with these diseases such as pain, inflammation and progressive reduction in the functional capacity of their joints.
As mentioned previously, among the most important joint ailments is rheumatoid arthritis, which can be said to be a chronic, relapsing and systemic disease that affects principally the diarthrodial joints of the extremities and that are those that have the greatest movement. Arthritis presents more frequently in women than in men in a ratio of 3:1; the constitutional symptoms include general discomfort, fever and weight loss. The disease characteristically begins in the small joints of hands and feet, and progresses in a symmetrical, centripetal manner. In the elderly, the disease can present in the large, proximal joints and furthermore, in this disease, deformities are frequent.
Further, rheumatoid arthritis has manifestations outside the joints, such as vasculitis, atrophy of the skin and muscle, subcutaneous nodules, lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly and leucopoenia.
Rheumatoid arthritis is considered to be of unknown etiology, although a variety of evidence relates it to an autoimmune role which is directed especially against an inherent constituents of the synovial membrane.
There are various aspects that favor the inflammatory joint process in rheumatoid arthritis, including the presence of macrophages in the synovial infiltrate that because of their form and size, indicate that they are very active and secreting a large amount of cytokines that apparently are responsible for the tissue damage. Among these cytokines is the IL-1 (interleukin-1) and TNF-α (Tumor Necrosis Factor). These cytokines cause tissue damage directly or indirectly, since they induce activation of osteoclasts promoting bone resorption, induce the secretion of prostaglandin E that amplifies the bone resorption and increases the inflammatory process. Also, the cytokines induce chemotaxis of polymorphonuclears, macrophages and T-lymphocytes, encouraging their mobilization to the sites where the inflammatory reaction occurs.
Separately, TNF-α directly induces apoptosis of some cells locally, encouraging bone resorption and giving rise to the typical erosions of rheumatoid arthritis, and it also induces the secretion of other cytokines that also augment the inflammatory process.
As can be seen from the foregoing, the process of joint affectation in rheumatoid arthritis is created by several components of the immune system, where macrophages apparently have an important participation; it is because of this that some researchers in this field have proposed that this disease is induced mainly by macrophages.
With respect to osteoarthritis, also known as arthrosis, this is the most common degenerative joint disease. This ailment has been related to age. However, various investigations have demonstrated that although it is a process that affects older people more, it has nothing to do with the actual situation of wear and tear due to age. Osteoarthritis is characterized by the progressive loss of joint cartilage, reactive changes in the margins of the joints and in subchondral bone. The typical clinical manifestations of this disease consist in pain that gradually increases, rigidity and augmented joint volume with reduction in mobility.
Osteoarthritis develops in two conditions, the first of them presents when the biostructural properties of the cartilage and subchondral bone are normal, but the joint loads are excessive, producing tissue failure, and the second when the loads are adequate but the biostructural properties of the cartilage and bone are deficient. In this disease, the cytokines participate as mediators of the tissue damage, among which are found interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the alfa tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α).
As for the most commonly used treatments for joint diseases, we can mention that in the case of rheumatoid arthritis, the conventional pharmacological treatment consists in treating the patient in the most advanced, aggressive form possible, striving for the least toxicity. Something similar is done with osteoarthritis patients, except that this disease has a more prolonged evolution time than rheumatoid arthritis. In said traditional pharmacological treatment, DMDs (disease modifying drugs) are used, among which we find gold salts, synthetic anti-malaria drugs, immune-reducer agents or immunosuppressants and the anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) biological products, and interleukin (IL) inhibitors. The use of these medications, however, also causes adverse side effects in the patient, or else they are excessively expensive. For example, gold salts cause dermatitis and stomatitis, and furthermore have a metallic taste.
The anti-malaria drugs that have been being used for more than 50 years, and among which are hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine sulfate, cause cutaneous erosion, leucopoenia, peripheral neuropathy, and other adverse effects.
On this point, it is important to mention that methotrexate, which is the DMD used most at this time; this drug diminishes the production of interleukin-6, interleukin-8 and the alfa tumor necrosis factor, plus it has low toxicity. Nonetheless, it has been observed that 60% of patients who use methotrexate develop gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea and nausea.
In relation to the biological agents, their objective is to interfere with the function of specific interleukins. Among these agents we can mention the chimeric monoclonal antibodies and the recombinant fusion proteins. The management strategies of these agents are directed to increasing the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines or inhibiting the pro-inflammatory cytokines. Still more, it has been observed that these agents have very good action and are not very toxic, but their cost is considerable.
So it is that in our times, there is a continual search for alternatives that effectively help in the treatment of joint diseases; for example, treatment has been sought with the use of phyto-medicaments or medicaments whose components include extracts of plant species.
The plant species include Curcuma longa (curcuma) and Harpagophytum procumbens (devil's claw) that have been used previously for trying to alleviate the inflammation present in joint diseases. Extracts are obtained from these species that are applied preferably by intramuscular and intraperitoneal route, exactly as described in the documents, “Pharmacology of Curcuma longa” by Hermann P. T. Ammon and Martin A. Wahl. 1990; “Anti-inflammatory and irritant activities of curcuma analogues in rats” by A. Mukhopadhyay, N. Basu, N. Ghatak and P. K. Gujral, 1982; and, “An Analytical Study, Anti-inflammatory and Analgesic Effects of H. P. and H. Zeyheri” by B. Baghdikiah, M. C. lanhers, J. Fleurentin, E. Ollivier, C. Maillard, 11:30 G. Balansard, and F. Mortzer. Said forms of application cause discomfort to patients in comparison with an oral administration form, and yet, the documents mention that oral administration does not achieve important effects such as the recovery of joint mobility and reduction in the time that they are stiff and swollen, which effects are in all respects desirable to attain not just for phyto-medicaments but also for the DMDs mentioned above.
In the state of the art, we can likewise find compositions that include plant species among their components, such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,565 that relates to a composition for veterinarian use made of 3 groups of components: a) flavoring additives, b) metabolic precursors for the biosynthesis of macro molecules necessary for the repair and maintenance of joint tissues, and c) phyto-chemicals selected from among 10 species, including Curcuma longa and Harpagophytum procumbens. 
We can further mention U.S. Pat. No. 6,274,176 that describes an edible composition whose purpose is to serve as an anti-inflammatory agent in diseases such as arthritis and gout in mammals.
In this point, it is very important to mention that most of the phyto-compositions described in the previous art provide only an anti-inflammatory effect. It must, however, be stressed that other symptoms are present in arthritic diseases that have to be combated, such as pain, the appearance of subcutaneous nodules, joint immobility, reduction in muscular strength, etc., for which reason the phyto-compositions known in the previous art definitely have a limited scope.
Consequent to the foregoing, the search has been to eliminate the inconveniences of the usual drugs and phyto-compositions that are used in the treatment of joint diseases, developing a phyto-composition that is useful in reducing the inflammation of joints and that diminishes the pain involved in them and reduces the time stiffness or torpor time of the nodules or buttons that appear in the joints, and also allows the patient to improve in terms of muscle strength and greater mobility of his joints.